Illness: The Greatest Threat to the World Economy

We are all inundated by the financial crisis, the oil crisis, the mortgage crisis, the food crisis, but what about the #1 crisis in America and the World – THE HEALTH CRISIS.

 Everyone is aghast by a 700 billion dollar financial bailout, but why don’t we hear of our annual healthcare expenditure of about 3 trillion dollars, soon to be 4 trillion dollars per year?

The lost and reduced productivity, lost workdays and disability caused by chronic illness are what is at the root of our global financial situation.  No one addresses this, yet it is America’s and the World’s greatest economic threat – projected to continue increasing without any end in sight.  We do not identify the problem and therefore we place the blame on secondary deceptive causes and hope illness will go away.  We blame others for this entire crisis and therefore we can all be victims.  Truth is that the majority of illness is our own personal responsibility!

 The SOLUTION is Prevention! 

The National Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt in 2007 generated a report of 355 large employers that showed health and productivity programs generated the following: 20 percent more revenue per employee, a 16.1 percent higher market value, 57 percent higher shareholder returns, sick leave cost increases that at 5 times lower, long term disability cost increases 4.5 times lower, short term disability costs 4 times lower and general health coverage 3.5 times lower.

 The World Health Forum in 2008 made it crystal clear that chronic illness was the greatest threat to business.

 “We have to move from illness to wellness. Businesses will have to invest in wellness. There is no choice.

It’s not philanthropy. It’s enlightened self-interest.”

Shrinivas M. Shanbhag, Medical Adviser, Reliance Industries, India

As the economic burden of chronic disease grows, it could crowd out monies needed to improve those other critical issues and as well as to meet other basic needs such as education and infrastructure in both industrialized and emerging economies. Furthermore, any drag on the growth of emerging economies can threaten the vitality of a highly interdependent global ecosystem which in turn can threaten the sustainability of already burdened social security systems in industrialized societies.

 

Why do we continue to resist prevention? 

Darrell L. Tanelian, M.D, Ph.D.

Comments

[Dan]

I don't know what to say other than for most humans if the threat is not right in front of their faces then nothing is done until a massive crisis develops. Health problems develop slowly so short-sighted people (over 90% of them) do not see the risk. We see the same in the financial world as the latest bubble-nomics event shows. I am not for bailing out investors that didn't learn the phrase "do not invest in that which you do not understand", and I am not for bailing out an individual with the latest astronomically expensive therapies who has lived an unhealthy life and then develops a life threatening disease as a result. As more and more people look to point the finger and run into the arms of government, I become more and more sick viewing this insanity. Do I sound negative? Too bad.

Hi Dan

Personally, you are right on! Our unhealthy lifestyle is just another manifestation of our overall behavior - to not see the "writing on the wall". Never believe or acknowledge the correctness of our forefathers; simply ignore them and let history repeat itself.

Darrell

[ed]

i agree that health the crisis is the major issue facing our country. i also believe that the healthy type of food is not available in large enough quaintities to make a significant difference in our nation's health. on top of that, most people don't know how to plan and prepare a healthy meal. my wife developed some severe health issues in 1993. the drs. said she would be lucky to live a year. i have spent the last 15 years studying disease and nutrition. i believe that less than 10% of the food sold in grocery stores could qualify as even marginally healthy to eat. our health seeems to improve daily, as we continue to find healthier foods to eat and better ways to fix them. most young people eat food that they think is healthy for them and find they have a health issue when it is to late for an easy fix. prevention is the best policy, however the crisis is here and there are ways of dealing with crises that could change peoples lives for the better in a hurry. i share many of the things that my wife and i have learned,and am glad that some people are able to benefit from some of the things that took me several years to learn.